Day 11- Spiritual Renewal RECONCILE AND FORGIVE I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. (1 Cor. 1:10). Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly.… For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? (1 Cor. 3:1-3). “When you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins” (Mark 11:25). “If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift” (Matt. 5:23-24). Read through the following list of relationships that may need to be made right in your life. Write down any item that describes a relationship you have that needs reconciliation. • Have I mistreated anyone by my actions or with my words that I have not gone to the person and asked forgiveness? • Have I stolen anything from a person, an organization, a business, my employer, or anyone else and not gone back and made restitution? • Do I hold a grudge or bitterness in my heart toward anyone? • Have I gossiped about or slandered another person? • Have I borrowed anything that I have failed to return? • Has God impressed me to do something to meet another person’s needs and I have failed to obey Him? • Have I done anything illegal which I need to confess? • Have I lied to anyone or falsified information? • Have I hurt someone because of an immoral act and covered it up rather than clean and clear it up? • Am I currently in a wrong or immoral relationship with anyone? • Have I been guilty of not expressing gratitude to a person or group when I certainly should have? Am I taking someone for granted and need to show my gratitude in words and deeds? • Have I allowed jealousy, envy, or resentment to have a negative effect on the way I have related to a person or group? • Have I allowed pride to keep me from relating to a person who needed a friend? • Have I sinned against God and another person or group by committing any of the following sins? • anger • anxiety • arguing • arrogance • bitterness • blasphemy • boasting • coarse talking • conceit • complaining • competition • covetousness • cursing • critical spirit • deception • unforgiveness • discord • disorder • divisiveness • envy • factions • faultfinding • fear • fits of rage • gossip • greed • grumbling • hatred • hypocrisy • impatience • impurity • independence • injustice • insensitivity • jealousy • lack of love • lies • malice • oppression • persecution • prejudice • pride • quarreling • resentment • revenge • rudeness • slander • strife • unbelief • self-seeking • judgmental spirit • intolerance of differences • party spirit (factions) • lawsuits among believers • provoking one another • keeping record of wrongs • self-righteousness • a controlling spirit • selfish ambition • struggle for control • spirit of superiority • delighting in downfall of a brother If You Are the Offender 1. Pray and ask God for help in thorough repentance. 2. Go to make things right out of obedience to God. 3. Put the hardest person first on your list. 4. Confess your sin to God and to those directly affected by the sin. 5. Don’t apologize. Ask for forgiveness. 6. Go in person (best choice), call by phone (second choice), or write a letter (last resort). 7. Don’t reflect negatively on the other person or his actions or attitudes. Deal only with your part of the offense. 8. Make restitution (pay for the offense) when appropriate. 9. Don’t expect to receive a positive response every time. Continue to pray for and seek reconciliation with an unforgiving person. Jesus command is: “Be reconciled.” If You Are the One Offended 1. Forgive the offender. Forgiveness is a command, not an option: “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you” (Col. 3:13). “‘If you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins’” (Matt. 6:15). 2. You cannot forgive and love in your own strength. The Holy Spirit of Christ in you can enable you to forgive and love. Ask Him to enable you to forgive. 3. Forgiveness is a choice of your will, not the result of a feeling. You must choose to forgive. 4. Begin to pray for God to work in the person’s life for his or her good. Continue praying until you can do so with a sincere desire to see God bless the person for his or her good. 5. Make an investment in the person who wronged you by returning good for evil. Ask God to guide you in this response and in the timing of it. Ask Him what you can do to meet a need or show love. Other Teaching on Forgiveness • Forgiveness is fully releasing another from the debt of the offense. • The person who forgives is the one who has to pay the price of forgiveness. Jesus paid the price for you. • You are never more like Jesus than when you forgive and show grace and mercy. Being offended provides you with the invitation to reveal Christ to the offender by your forgiveness. • Forgiveness does not mean that the offense was not wrong. • Forgiveness is not permission for the offender to do it again. It does not require you to place yourself in harms way again. • Forgiveness does not mean that you will fully forget. You choose not to hold the offense against the person any longer. • How much do you forgive? “Seventy times seven” (Matt. 18:21-22, KJV). In other words: forgive an unlimited amount. • Jesus said, “‘If [your brother] sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, “I repent,” forgive him’” (Luke 17:4). In other words: even if the offender really doesn’t repent and change his ways, you still forgive. • Even if the person doesn’t believe he’s wrong, forgive. Jesus set the model for us on the cross when He prayed for those who were killing Him, “‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing’” (Luke 23:34).
Posted on: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 11:00:00 +0000
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